No, I'm not asking for medical advice. I'm under a doctor's care and the problem is under control; I'm simply curious.

I have type-2 diabetes, managed by diet, exercise, medication, and periodically ripping out the throats of people who eat cheesecake in front of me. Also rice pudding. And root beer floats. Anyway, I generally have good control: almost always <110 in the mornings, and not over 150 any day this year. Having nearly died twice because of it has put the fear of God in me.

Anywhistle...I've noticed that emotionally stressful events cause cause me to go hypoglycemic. This is weird, because the usual reaction, as I understand it, is for stress to cause the blood sugar to increase. But not me. The day of my mother's funeral I went low (<60) three separate times. At the time, one of my cousins, a nurse, speculated that because I was so upset I had simply forgotten to eat--but I'm very careful about watching my meals, and I simply don't believe it. On the day of my aunt's funeral a few months back I also went low, though I'd planned my caloric intake very carefully that day, and both Mrs. Rhymer and Baby Sister Rhymer were watching me like a hawk. I've had similar experiences on any especially stressful day. A diet/exercise/glyberide routine that works fine for me on an ordinary day winds up leaving me with my blood sugar in my socks on a stressful one.

The stress hormone adrenaline plays a role in blood sugar regulation. In order to provide energy for a flight-or fight reaction, it promotes glycogen breakdown in the liver, breakdown of triglycerides (fat) in the adipose cells, promotes the release of glucagon and decreases the release of insulin. This alone would increase blood sugar. However, adrenalin also increases the metabolic rate, and you therefore use more glucose to power your metabolism, and this of course lowers your blood glucose.

The stress hormone adrenaline plays a role in blood sugar regulation. In order to provide energy for a flight-or fight reaction, it promotes glycogen breakdown in the liver, breakdown of triglycerides (fat) in the adipose cells, promotes the release of glucagon and decreases the release of insulin. This alone would increase blood sugar. However, adrenalin also increases the metabolic rate, and you therefore use more glucose to power your metabolism, and this of course lowers your blood glucose.

Are you really suggesting that adrenaline lowers the blood glucose level? Cause that ain't so. Indeed, as you noted, adrenalin is responsible for raising the glucose levels in certain situations. It also prevents the glucose level from falling during periods of fasting.

In normal individuals, during hypoglycemia, adrenaline is predictably released. As a result, blood glucose levels will rise. Obviously, this (release of adrenaline and raising of the glucose level) would not happen if adrenaline led to lowering of glucose levels.

I'm pretty interested in this question, Skald. I've got reactive hypoglycemia, and stress can make me pass right out. This can cause some serious issues while driving. I know I could potentially faint, so I get stressed, so my blood sugar gets lower, so I start to feel faint, so I get stressed...et cetera, ad infinitum. It's, um, stressful.